Curiously, it quickly transpires that there are few better ways to spend a sweltering, heavy-eyed Saturday afternoon at Glastonbury than at Camila Cabello’s Other Stage set. If you need an energy boost, they are everywhere here – in the wildly unserious but brilliantly executed opening section, which sees the Cuban-born singer and six dancers thrust around in Cyberdog-esque outfits; and in the elaborate stage sets, which include a metallic swing set and BMX stunt ramp. Little that Cabello does or says on stage today makes sense, but while pop artists should be taken seriously, the genre and being a fan of it doesn’t always have to be.
- READ MORE: Camila Cabello – ‘C,XOXO’ review: a party girl rebrand – and scrappy, intriguing earworms
Despite her offering clichéd, repeated press lines in recent interviews (“I’m a weirdo!,” she’s told numerous outlets of her experimental new LP ‘C,XOXO’), this performance illustrates that she’s in on the joke and enjoying herself. The March release of lead single ‘I Luv It’ centred the 27-year-old as the internet’s punching bag for a week on the basis that the track shares the rapid conversational delivery of Charli XCX’s ‘I Got It’. Marina might say that ‘that Froot looks familiar’ but Cabello has followed her vision through with conviction, selling each sonic twist and turn as hard as she can.
She was originally scheduled to perform at Worthy Farm in 2020, prior to the pandemic, and surely would have delivered a very different show. At the time, she was making muted, H&M-core pop while occasionally teasing Spanish-classical influences. Today (June 29), mouths are agape while audience members squint, trying to work out why Cabello chooses to spin recklessly on a roundabout as she delivers moody ballad ‘June Gloom’ or melts ice lollies across her ice blue halter neck top during ‘Sangria Wine’.
Even her biggest hit, the sultry, salsa-inspired ‘Havana’, sees Cabello offering an awkward thumbs up after briefly forgetting her lyrics. The mood remains messy and laugh-out-loud chaotic throughout Ed Sheeran team-up ‘Bam Bam’, as Cabello chooses to film a TikTok when her collaborator’s verse plays over the PA.
Yes, there are certainly points where it feels like the wheels may come off, but as standout ‘Chanel No.5’ – a stark, genuinely intriguing display of intricate vocal control – shows, there is occasionally method in the madness. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to wish for more emotion and precision from Cabello, but for a fleeting moment, you cannot deny the serve.
Camila Cabello’s Glastonbury setlist was:
‘I Luv It’
‘Shameless’
‘Sangria Wine’
‘Twentysomethings’
‘My Oh My’
‘Chanel No.5’
‘Dade County Dreaming’
‘Havana’
‘Dream-Girls’
‘Bam Bam’
‘Senorita’
‘June Gloom’
‘Pretty When I Cry’
‘Never Be The Same’
‘He Knows’
‘Hot Uptown’
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